To reconcile the idea of God’s sovereignty and our free will, I present a novel model for how God interacts with the physical world. However, I acknowledge that this is merely a hypothetical framework and may have limitations. It is intended to facilitate a meaningful dialogue between science and theology rather than provide definitive answers. I aim to demonstrate that scientific inquiry and faith in a personal God can coexist harmoniously.
In contrast to the Newtonian clockwork universe, where God set up physical laws and initial conditions and allowed the universe to run independently, a feedback control system offers a different approach. Feedback control systems are well-known to engineering students, and they use the system’s output to adjust the input signal, bringing the output closer to the desired value. These systems are commonly used to stabilize unstable systems and are called closed-loop control systems. In the simplest form, the system’s output is subtracted from the input in a negative feedback loop to create a new output. It is important to note that the term “negative” does not have a negative connotation in this context. Negative feedback in a control system can make it more stable, whereas positive feedback can destabilize it. An example of a positive feedback loop is when a microphone is placed before a speaker, resulting in a loud sound. In this scenario, the sound from the speaker is picked up by the microphone and amplified by the speaker, which is then picked up by the microphone again, resulting in a continuous loop that increases the volume of the sound with each iteration. This process continues until the sound becomes distorted and over-saturated, ultimately leading to a loud and unpleasant noise.
An everyday example of a negative feedback control system is the thermostat in your home. Without the thermostat, your home might get too hot when you turn on the heater. With the thermostat, the system will automatically turn off the heater when the room temperature reaches the set value and turn it back on when it gets too cold.
Chaotic systems are also feedback control systems, but they tend to be static, with the feedback control path remaining the same. This can cause the system to get out of control quickly and become chaotic. However, modern electronics and technology have made it possible to create adaptive (smart) feedback control systems where the feedback condition mechanism is not fixed and can be adjusted to make the system more stable. An example of this is the NEST smart thermostat, which can learn your behavior and adjust the temperature in your home accordingly.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power (Isaiah 40:28-29).
In this model, God is seen as a personalized smart controller that considers a person’s past behavior and creates a unique feedback control path for them. Unlike a one-size-fits-all approach, God’s interaction with individuals is tailored to their specific needs and behaviors. Unlike an AI system, which has limitations in predicting human behavior, God is seen as an omniscient and all-knowing entity that can guide individuals toward their intended path. This feedback loop is always active, and every decision a person makes is considered for future interactions. Even if someone deviates from their intended path, God is thought to guide them back onto the right path gently.
The feedback mechanism of this feedback loop can be the quantum events that eventually change the physical objects or the mental activity through the Holy Spirit. This is the mechanism for special providence and how He directs the flow of history. This model fits all my Christian beliefs and is consistent with science.
In a stable feedback control system, there are three different regimes:
- Underdamped: A system will oscillate before it reaches its destiny.
- Overdamped: A system will take a long to reach its destiny.
- Critically damped: A system will reach destiny in the shortest amount of time.
When you surrender to God and seek His kingdom and righteousness, your decision follows God’s plan. The difference is slight, and the feedback control system does not have to do that much work. The system is in a critically damped regime and reached the outcome smoothly in the shortest time.
On the other hand, if you fight against God’s plan for you, either walking ahead of God or going in the opposite direction, it will be like in an underdamped regime, there will be much oscillation (up and down), but you can still reach the destination. When Jonah refused to follow God’s order to go to Nineveh to preach against their wicked behavior, his life went through many ups and downs, and a big fish swallowed him. However, eventually, he still went to Nineveh to preach against them.
Finally, if we know about God’s plan for you and don’t actively follow it, it is like an overdamped system, and it takes a long time to reach God’s destination for you.
As in the real-life feedback control system, this model can be extended to show how God interacts with multiple persons. Returning to our smart thermostat analogy, my thermostat is connected online. When there is a heat wave, it will automatically set the temperature higher to reduce energy use so that a power outage that affects the whole community will not occur. It might cause discomfort, but it serves the greater good of the community.
Many ask, “Why do evildoers prosper while God-fearing people suffer?” Western culture often equates fairness to everyone having the same thing. We sometimes extend this to how we view God. We think God is unfair when we see good things happen to others and not to us. True fairness is not treating everyone the same way; true fairness is everyone getting what they need or having the pathway to achieve their desire. In our model, you can see that our God is a personal God, and He doesn’t have a one-size fits all plan for everyone, and His feedback path will be different for different people, all based on their past decisions and what they truly need.
Another way to answer why evildoers prosper while God-fearing people suffer is that God’s intention is not for us to prosper. He wants a good relationship with us, and we become more like Him. We should not preach the prosperity gospel.
“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” – Proverbs 23:17-18
According to this model, God considers the collective impact of human actions before creating a personalized feedback control path for each individual. Sometimes, God uses individuals as agents to perform His work for others. As the butterfly effect illustrates, everyone on Earth is interconnected, and even small actions can affect how God interacts with someone on the other side of the world. For instance, Mordecai Ham is not a well-known figure in the Christian community, but he was the one who led Billy Graham to Christ, and Graham went on to become a famous evangelist. Therefore, your seemingly insignificant actions can lead to something great, and your faithful ministry can make a significant difference. On the other hand, a seemingly harmless decision or vote can result in something terrible. This gives new meaning to Romans 8:28. When the apostle Paul said all things God works for the good, he was not speaking as a metaphor; everything literally works together. Throughout history, God has used flawed individuals to accomplish His work, and you don’t have to be perfect to be used by God.
“And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NET)
God gave us free will, but it doesn’t mean we are free to do anything we want. You can exercise your free will to choose anyone you want to marry, but the other person might exercise their free will to reject you. In other words, there are boundaries to free will. In our model, you can see that God can use the feedback control system to limit your choices. You might think God overpowers you and have no real choice, but ultimately you can still choose to accept the outcome willingly or unwillingly.
Like the moral laws that He gave us, the physical laws and the boundaries He set for us are not made out of tyranny, trying to stop us from having fun. They are for our good so that humanity can develop to the fullest.
The highlight of this model:
- God is self-limiting Himself when He interacts with the world.
- God has an individual plan for you and me.
- A faithful God who is faithful to you and the physical laws that He created.
- A personal God who interacts with you all the time. He doesn’t revise now and then, nor does He respond to you only when you pray or are in trouble.
- You have free will and decide while God is still in control.
- Even if you might make a wrong decision and deviate from God’s perfect plan for you, God can still guide you back.
- Everybody is linked and interconnected in some way. Your action has consequences for you and the rest of the world.